Up periscope!

Jennifer K Mahal

A melted white “shot glass” sends chills up the spine. This is what a

regular-size Styrofoam cup looks like after being trailed behind a Navy

deep-sea exploration submersible.

“The water pressure squeezes all the air out of the Styrofoam,” said

Marcus DeChevrieux, curator of the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.

The tremendous pressure of the ocean, the camaraderie between sailors

and the powerful design of Navy submarines are explored in the museum’s

latest exhibit, “Submarines, From Nemo to Nuclear.”

The show, which will open today and highlights the submarine’s

evolution in the Navy, is the first military exhibit for the 15-year-old

museum, said Wayne Eggleston, museum executive director.

“I think it’s going to be a terrific exhibition to get people in

here,” Eggleston said, explaining that the show has been timed to

coincide with a return visit from the Navy SEAL delivery boat Zephyr from

Aug. 24 to 27.

The exhibit is centered around a traveling collection of 28 paintings

and works on paper, titled “A View from the Periscope,” from the

Department of the Navy. Memorabilia, models and photographs on loan from

the San Diego Maritime Museum and the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum

in Northern California are also on display.

“Looking around the room,” DeChevrieux said, “the [model of the] Perch

is the only thing we actually own.”

An interactive model of how a submarine works stands ready for

children’s curious hands in one corner. A model of the Nautilus, the

first nuclear-powered submarine, made for a 1950s World Fair takes up a

display stand.

Propped against the wall, a 240-pound, solid bronze torpedo tube from

the Pomodon vessel had DeChevrieux worried as to how he could mount it.

“None of our walls will hold it,” he said. “I’ll have to design a

special frame to put it on.”

A Whitehead torpedo never made it up to the museum’s second-floor

room, needing to remain outside because of its weight.

Then there is the submarine toilet flush, complete with 17-step

instructions on how to use the loo.

“That’s the first thing you’ve got to learn on a sub,” DeChevrieux

said.

On the walls, expertly lighted by nautical museum volunteer Dick

Cooper, are the paintings of men loading a torpedo, a submarine

surfacing, a silent runner in action and, curiously, two cartoon

characters created for the submarines Barb and Macabi.

“In World War II, everyone was in the war effort,” DeChevrieux said,

explaining that the characters were created by Walt Disney Studios as the

submarine equivalent to airplane nose art.

The first submarine depicted in art is from 332 BC -- a painting of

Alexander the Great and his “glass barrel.” Such diverse legends as

Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne found themselves captivated by the idea

of a ship that could brave the depths.

Submarines have a mystique, DeChevrieux said, that appeals to the

general public.

But not everyone is enthralled.

Cooper, a retired lighting designer and 10-year museum volunteer,

recently took his son and grandson to see the Portsmith, a submarine, in

San Diego.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to be in a submarine, Dad.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘See

the guys on top of the torpedoes?”’ Cooper said.

FYI

What: “Submarines, From Nemo to Nuclear”

Where: The Newport Harbor Nautical Museum on the Riverboat “Pride of

Newport,” 151 E. Coast Highway, Newport Beach

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday until Oct. 28

Cost: Free

CALL: (949) 673-7863